Where Are Our Eyes?

Hebrews 12:1-14

Antioch Christian Fellowship

August 19, 2004

Text

Hebrews 12:1-14  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.  ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."  ⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  ¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,  ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.  ¹⁴ Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Sermon

I know people who have run in the Boston marathon.  I’ve seen the grimaces on their faces; I’ve heard their moans as their legs cramp.  During the race, sometimes they wonder if it will ever end, if they’ll ever see the finish line, there is so much pain, so much exhaustion.  All along the way, there are people lining the path, cheering them on, applauding, offering them cups of refreshing water, encouraging them to continue in spite of the weariness.  What they want most is to see the finish line.  While they are racing, they know it is there, even when they can’t see it, even when it seems so far out of reach.  It is a race of stamina, not speed.  They keep going in hope of reaching it.

The writer of Hebrews today uses the metaphor of a marathon to describe life.  He is writing to people who are enduring ongoing persecution because of what they believe.  Before our lesson today in chapter 10 (32-34) he writes, “Don't ever forget those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.  Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.  You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail. When all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew you had better things waiting for you in eternity.”

They had endured persecution in the past and been able to keep their eyes on the finish line.  But this marathon is long and exhaustion is setting in.  Their lives encountering constant harassment is leading to fatigue and disillusionment.  The people are weary, ready to give up and go home.

The author tells those running the race not to forget those who have run before.  They are here, surrounding us, those who have finished the race, cheering us on.  There’s Moses, he wanted to give up.  We read in Numbers chapter 11 that the people of Israel are in the wilderness, they’re sick and tired of the blasé manna that God provides, they long for the good food of Egypt and complain to Moses.  Moses is tired of it too, but mainly he’s tired of leading a people that he never wanted to lead and all they do is whine.  Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so miserably? What did I do to deserve the burden of a people like this?  Are they my children?  I can't carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy!  I'd rather you killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this misery!"  Moses was ready to throw in the towel; he had had enough.  But he’s there, standing along our path, cheering us on.

There’s Amy Carmichael, who during her ministry in India rescuing children, from temple prostitution was in constant threat of physical danger.  She was frequently arrested by the Indian authorities and faced charges of kidnapping.  She was so honest about the problems of missionary work in the field, that when she sent her reports home to England for publication, some were returned to be altered, to make them more encouraging.  The home that she began for children, Dohnavur is still operational today, working to free children from lives of painful degradation.  Amy suffered during her life from recurring bouts of anxiety and depression.  Amy is there, waving us on.  And multitudes more, so many who have gone before us and finished the race, witnesses that suffering can build endurance.

The race is long and hard, but there are things that make it harder.  The author of Hebrews describes these as “weights, encumbrumrances.”  We are to throw these off, hurl them away.  What are our weights?  These can be hard to identify.  They are anything, anyone who prevents us from keeping our eyes focused on the finish line.  It can be something as simple as where I live, what I drive, how I spend my time, anything that causes me to move my focus from where I know I want to be.  The author of Hebrews advises us, “Throw it off. “   And we see Lilias Trotter applauding.  Lilas was born in 1853 in the most posh area of London to an aristocratic family who had everything.  As she grew up, her mother sent some of her art to John Rushkin, a famous artist of the day and she became one of his best pupils and had great potential to become a leading artist.  But Lilas had her eyes on the finish line and at a time when no decent young woman went out on the streets without a chaperone, Lilas was walking the red light district of London, saving young women.  She later went with two of her female friends to Algeria to minister and bring the good news of Christ to Muslims.  Her ministry there became what is today the Arab World Mission.  Lilias is there, waving us on, a witness to shedding the weights of the world and making it across the finish line.

One of the weights we carry is our sin.  Shedding our sin is also a way to lighten our load.  We can begin to shed our sin by being open to conviction.  This is a constant battle, but it is good that there is a battle.  St. Paul discusses the battle in Galatians 5:16.  Paul tells us to live according to our new life in the Holy Spirit.  “Our old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and our choices are never free from this conflict.”  John Calvin puts it another way, “There is no battle when there is only darkness, it is when the light enters the darkness that the battle begins.”  Jesus knew there would be a battle.  We read in John chapter 2 that there were many people who believed he was the Messiah because of the miracles he did, “But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew what people were really like.  No one needed to tell him about human nature.” In our gospel reading today Jesus foretells the results of the coming of the Prince of Peace.  He says there will be division because for the Prince of Peace, peace is not just the absence of conflict, it is perfect righteousness and justice.  The forces of the world fight against such perfection.

Jesus saw the weights that keep us from racing toward him.  He personally experienced the results of the power of the world and our sinful nature.  But he came to transform us, and the culture, not to be transformed by it and so he has sent to us his Holy Spirit so that we might receive correction when our sinful nature blocks our path to the finish line (John 16). 

The author of Hebrews makes this sound pretty easy, but we know that it isn’t.  If it were easy, there would have been no reason to write this letter.  If it were easy to run this race, we would be without half of the New Testament; there would have been no reason to write any letters.  If it were easy to run the marathon, we wouldn’t be here today.  We are here today because we know that we can’t make it alone.  When we grow weary it is easy to stumble and fall, it is easy to forget who is waiting for us at the finish line. 

We accept in faith that there is a finish line.  We can’t see it, but we have been told it is there and whether we are ready to be there, or afraid to reach it, we hold on dearly to the hope that Jesus waits for us there.  To race toward him, that finish line that we do not see but accept in faith, we keep our eyes on the hope of Him.  We do that in prayer, study of Scripture and ministering to each other in the community of faith.  Some days it is easier than others, some days it seems impossible.  That is why God has given to us this great cloud of witnesses, those who have gone before us and those who live among us.

We are not only cheered on by the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, but we are also surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses living around us.  We are those currently running the race are called to be encouragers of our brothers and sisters in need, we are to be faith for them when their faith is frail, trusting that when our faith is frail, we can count on theirs to urge us on.

This great cloud of witnesses, people applauding, offering us cool sips of living water to sustain us in the race, encouraging us, waving us on are clear evidence that victory is assured.  As we all run together, becoming stronger because of our combined strength, we will become able to pass the cup of living water from one to another, reaching out beyond the boundaries of these walls to others who haven’t received encouragement from the great cloud of witnesses of the past because they have never heard of them or they have heard wrongly of them.  We can become witnesses to the world not because when we became Christians life became easy for us, but because Jesus has given to us the power to endure.  We endure not because we are strong, but because He is and within us lives His Spirit who searches our hearts and knows our every need and then provides, whether it is correction or encouragement. 

We are witnesses, like that great cloud.  Our names may never be written on any earthly historical document, we may never have an earthly legacy, but we will finish the race surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and when we meet Jesus at the finish line, we will see our names written on his hand and hear those words we so long to hear, “Well, done, good and faithful runner.”